The Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story skyscraper located in the Loop area of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. At tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the 28th-tallest in the U.S., being only five feet from 1,000 feet, making it the closest of any building under 1,000. Built in 1990, the building was designed by the firm

Loebl Schlossman & Hackl Loebl Schlossman & Hackl is an American architecture firm based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1925 and known by various names through the years, the firm is responsible for the design of several major Chicago landmarks including the 1975 Wate ...

, with Stephen T. Wright as the principal in charge of design. It has received 8 awards, including winning the Best Structure Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois in 1995.

History

Construction started in 1988, and The Two Prudential Plaza was completed in 1990. At the time of completion, Two Prudential was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building. Its distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north and south sides, a pyramidal peak rotated 45°, and an spire. The building is attached to One Prudential Plaza (formerly known as the Prudential Building) since 1992. Without its spire, the building's height is still slightly greater than that of One Prudential Plaza's pinnacle. In May 2006, BentleyForbes, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm, run by

Frederick Wehba Frederick Wehba (born February 23, 1947) is an American real-estate investor and founder of the firm BentleyForbes. Personal life Wehba was born and raised in Texas. He describes his childhood that he spent working in his father's grocery sto ...

and his family purchased Two Prudential Plaza, along with its sister property, One Prudential Plaza for $470 million. In 2015, BentleyForbes defaulted on the mortgage for the towers due to the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

and New York-based investors 601W Companies and Berkley Properties took control of the property after investing more than $100 million in equity to recapitalize. BentleyForbes, the prior controlling owner of the towers, continues to have an interest in the owning partnership. The building is also the new home of the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

and tronc, Inc. after leaving

Tribune Tower The Tribune Tower is a , 36-floor neo-Gothic skyscraper located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built between 1923 and 1925, the international design competition for the tower became a historic event in 20th-ce ...

in July 2018.

Tenants

The Consulate General of Canada in Chicago is located in Suite 2400. The Flag of Canada is flown next to that of the United States in the building's Lake Street plaza.

Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform owned by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national um ...

occupies the ninth to twelfth floors, including WBBM, WBBM-FM,

WBMX WBMX (104.3 FM, 104.3 Jams) is a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a classic hip hop radio format. WBMX's studios and offic ...

WXRT WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an adult album alternative (AAA) radio station in Chicago, Illinois. For many years, their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". "Chicago's Home For Music Lovers" has been used as its slogan si ...

WUSN WUSN (99.5 FM) is a country radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc. and branded as "US✶99", it is based at Two Prudential Plaza in the Loop, and transmits from atop the John Hancock Center with an HD Radio signal. History ...

WSCR WSCR (670 AM) – branded as 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, servicing the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and parts of the Milwa ...

and WCFS.

In popular culture

The building and the plaza appear in the 1994 film ''Richie Rich'' as Rich Industries Inc.

Position in Chicago's skyline

Gallery

References

External links

Official website

Two Prudential Plaza
on

CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...

Skyscraper Center
Emporis entry for Two Prudential Plaza
{{Chicago skyscrapers Buildings and structures completed in 1990 Chicago Tribune 1990 establishments in Illinois Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago Newspaper headquarters in the United States Newspaper buildings Prudential Financial buildings Postmodern architecture in the United States